Barista Accused Of Stealing Money, Setting Manager's Car On Fire

LEXINGTON (CBS) - A former barista at Peet's Coffee & Tea in Lexington is charged with setting his manager's car on fire last month. Fifty-year-old Mustafa Syed is also accused of stealing $800 out of the office safe.

The fire and theft happened on May 10. Mustafa was arrested three days later after police found evidence including video of the suspect buying a cigarette lighter at a CVS next to Peet's and security camera footage of Mustafa allegedly taking money from the safe.

The manager told Lexington Police that he has no issues with Mustafa. Mustafa's attorney told WBZ that there is "absolutely no motivation" for his client to commit the crimes. Mustafa has been out on bail with a GPS monitoring bracelet.

He was in Concord District Court Monday for a pretrial hearing. He's expected back in court on August 15.